Chapter 66 - Curious

                                    

                                          
"By the way, what's that
on your neck?"
                          
---
                          
She swung open the door of Hanji's study, laughing. Vien didn't say anything as she approached the office desk, but Hanji already knew what happened "Did he fall for it?"
                          
"Yup it did, the toy guns Levi confiscated finally got their revenge" They both laughed
                          
"Anyways about the study," Vien pulls out the stack of papers she carried "I think I already figured out a solution to problem no. 17"
                          
"That's good, just write it down and I'll do the rest of it" Hanji instructs
                          
In absolute silence, the doctor took out a pen and began writing down everything she came up with. A few minutes later Hanji spotted something small yet dark on Vien's neck. Once a specific thought came to her mind, Hanji bit her lip hard
                          
"Vienny, what'd you do last night?"
                          
"I came up with this solution of course, I also read the novel you recommended to me. It was about a man who's arterial tension tends to increase often because of his hatred towards his government's incompetence. It's wording is nice and it tackles societal issues as well. I think that his outlandish behavior is a result from the treatment he received as a kid-"
                          
"In other words, a man who has anger issues towards the town mayor who's his abusive father" Hanji cut her off "Let me hear your novel critiques again another time"
                          
Vien placed the papers down the desk, averting her sole attention to Hanji "What is it you want to talk about then? We can discuss scie-"
                          
"Nope, there's something weird"
                          
Vien chuckled at her "Like what?"
                          
It was a brief pause of silence, so Vien brought up a cup of tea to her lips before Hanji asked "Did you and Levi do anything last night?"
                          
Vien accidentally bit her tongue, choking out the tea that barely went down her throat. She dabbed a tissue on her lips then gaped at Hanji in a clear, agitated manner
                          
"Are you crazy?" "On your neck"
                          
Raising a brow, the girl tapped her neck in the area Hanji was staring at. One of the areas felt numb than the rest. It was also confusing her, but all the events that occured last night began replaying, vivid and clear. Vien noticed that Hanji caught on, so she stood up from her chair and rushed behind a desk
                          
"It's not what you think!! Don't look at me like that!" Vien chided loudly
                          
"My my Vienny" Hanji claps her hands, "I wonder what the cadets' reactions would be if they saw it"
                          
Vien raised her collar "I swear Jiji, if you mention it to anyone I will-"
                          
The other girl stood up from her seat, and began to chase Vien around the room. Hanji yelled "I want to see it up close come on!!"
                          
"Stop chasing me and don't bring your curiosity into things like this!" Vien retorted as she continued to run, refusing to be caught by Hanji
                          
---
                          
During lunch hours, Vien visited Levi at the training grounds but he was still busy. So she entered the Mess Hall to eat alone. She sat on a vacant table further from the rest
                          
She began eating, but a group of people started occupying the seats beside her. "What're you guys doing here?". It's the 104th cadets
                          
"We left an empty space because we thought you'd sit with us, why are you eating alone?" Asks Mikasa
                          
They stared at her, waiting for an answer which made her awkward
                          
Vien awkwardly laughs "Sorry, my mind was just too occupied lately.."
                          
Her sullen expression caused a brief silence after that. Vien stared at her food, seemingly in her own world. The cadets shared confused gazes with each other since they didn't know how to break the ice
                          
Suddenly her fists began clenching out of nowhere, and as a last resort, Jean staked a potato and placed it on her plate "You should be eating, the hour's about to end"
                          
The moment her eyes fell on the potato, a tear rolled off her cheek
                          
Struck with confusion, the cadets didn't have the slightest clue on why she was crying. When they asked Vien if she felt any pain, she didn't reply - so they blamed Jean 
                          
Connie smacks the back of his head
                          
"M-me??!" Exclaimed Jean in his defense "I only gave her a potato!"
                          
"You're the last one who talked to her. Who else would it be?" He said
                          
The two began to argue at each other's faces on who started it first, until Vien finally spoke "It's not anyone's fault, so stop yelling here"
                          
Silence came when Mikasa gave a tissue to Vien. After wiping her tears away, she muttered "I just wondered. If only I came even just a second earlier that night then I could've stopped her from killing Sasha. I never even knew she was gone until Connie mentioned her grave at the dungeon. She would've lived if only I never hesitated to go"
                          
The tears soaked her collar "I never even got to see her before she died"
                          
The cadets were speechless, and didn't know how to react. Although she had a point, their first instinct was to comfort her. Mikasa held her hand "Don't blame yourself for the wrong deeds of others, even if there was a chance you could've prevented it. Keeping her in our hearts and continuing to fight for what she died for is what matters"
                          
Armin smiled weakly "She is right. I know that Sasha will be unhappy to see you blame yourself like this, it's what we learned during her funeral. So we stopped tormenting ourselves for her death and promised that we'll keep fighting"
                          
She felt comforted, so she smiled at them before replying "Thank you"
                          
"By the way, what's on your neck?"
                          
Mikasa bluntly asks, as she stared
                          
The cadets dart their eyes in the same direction, and Armin already caught a glimpse of it before Vien pulled her collar up "I-it's nothing"
                          
"Dr Vien- what was that?" Armin lowly mumbled under his breath
                          
"It's a mosquito bite!" "No it's n-"
                          
Vien muffled Mikasa, pressing a tissue against her mouth to prevent her from going any further. However Connie and Jean became extremely suspicious of her sudden reaction. They both asked Armin, but he seems too shocked to reply
                          
She slipped out and began running her way out of the Mess Hall, but the cadets started chasing after her